diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4d06d78..4a38db5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -37,21 +37,20 @@ Positional arguments:
 Options:
 
 - `--target-root TARGET_ROOT`
-  subfolder on target to synchronize to
+  subfolder on target to synchronize to (default: "")
 - `--target-port TARGET_PORT`
-  SSH port on target
+  SSH port on target (default: 22)
 - `--on-change ON_CHANGE`
-  command to be executed on remote host after any file change
+  command to be executed on remote host after any file change (default: None)
 - `--mutex-interval MUTEX_INTERVAL`
-  interval in which mutex is updated
+  interval in which mutex is updated (default: 10 seconds)
 
 ### Notes
 
 - We suggest you have some auto-reloading in place on the (slow) target machine, like [NiceGUI](https://nicegui.io).
 - Only one user per target host should run LiveSync at a time. Therefore LiveSync provides a mutex mechanism.
-- By default `.git/` folders are not synchronized.
-- All files and directories from the `.gitignore` of any source directory are also excluded from synchronization.
 - You can create a `.syncignore` file in any source directory to skip additional files and directories from syncing.
+- If a `.syncignore` file doesn't exist, it is automatically created containing `.git/`, `__pycache__/`, `.DS_Store`, `*.tmp`, and `.env`.
 - If you pass a VSCode workspace file as `source`, LiveSync will synchronize each directory listed in the `folders` section.
 
 ## Installation
diff --git a/livesync/folder.py b/livesync/folder.py
index de8dc76..96b45f8 100644
--- a/livesync/folder.py
+++ b/livesync/folder.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import watchfiles
 
 KWONLY_SLOTS = {'kw_only': True, 'slots': True} if sys.version_info >= (3, 10) else {}
+DEFAULT_IGNORES = ['.git/', '__pycache__/', '.DS_Store', '*.tmp', '.env']
 
 
 def run_subprocess(command: str, *, quiet: bool = False) -> None:
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ def __init__(self, local_dir: Path, target: Target) -> None:
 
         # from https://stackoverflow.com/a/22090594/3419103
         match_pattern = pathspec.patterns.gitwildmatch.GitWildMatchPattern
-        self._ignore_spec = pathspec.PathSpec.from_lines(match_pattern, self.get_excludes())
+        self._ignore_spec = pathspec.PathSpec.from_lines(match_pattern, self.get_ignores())
 
         self._stop_watching = asyncio.Event()
 
@@ -48,17 +49,11 @@ def target_path(self) -> Path:
     def ssh_path(self) -> str:
         return f'{self.target.host}:{self.target_path}'
 
-    def get_excludes(self) -> List[str]:
-        return ['.git/', '__pycache__/', '.DS_Store', '*.tmp', '.env'] + \
-            self._parse_ignore_file(self.local_path / '.syncignore') + \
-            self._parse_ignore_file(self.local_path / '.gitignore')
-
-    @staticmethod
-    def _parse_ignore_file(path: Path) -> List[str]:
+    def get_ignores(self) -> List[str]:
+        path = self.local_path / '.syncignore'
         if not path.is_file():
-            return []
-        with path.open() as f:
-            return [line.strip() for line in f.readlines() if not line.startswith('#')]
+            path.write_text('\n'.join(DEFAULT_IGNORES))
+        return [line.strip() for line in path.read_text().splitlines() if not line.startswith('#')]
 
     def get_summary(self) -> str:
         summary = f'{self.local_path} --> {self.ssh_path}\n'
@@ -90,7 +85,7 @@ def stop_watching(self) -> None:
     def sync(self, post_sync_command: Optional[str] = None) -> None:
         args = '--prune-empty-dirs --delete -avz --checksum --no-t'
         # args += ' --mkdirs'  # INFO: this option is not available in rsync < 3.2.3
-        args += ''.join(f' --exclude="{e}"' for e in self.get_excludes())
+        args += ''.join(f' --exclude="{e}"' for e in self.get_ignores())
         args += f' -e "ssh -p {self.target.port}"'
         run_subprocess(f'rsync {args} {self.local_path}/ {self.ssh_path}/', quiet=True)
         if post_sync_command:
diff --git a/livesync/livesync.py b/livesync/livesync.py
index 0c4ca65..2541c09 100755
--- a/livesync/livesync.py
+++ b/livesync/livesync.py
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ def git_summary(folders: List[Folder]) -> str:
 
 
 async def async_main() -> None:
-    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Repeatedly synchronize local directories with remote machine')
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description='Repeatedly synchronize local directories with remote machine',
+        formatter_class=argparse.ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter)
     parser.add_argument('source', type=str, help='local source folder or VSCode workspace file')
     parser.add_argument('--target-root', type=str, default='', help='subfolder on target to synchronize to')
     parser.add_argument('--target-port', type=int, default=22, help='SSH port on target')
diff --git a/tests/test_syncing_with_git_summary.sh b/tests/test_syncing_with_git_summary.sh
index 9e53ca4..c3cb7be 100755
--- a/tests/test_syncing_with_git_summary.sh
+++ b/tests/test_syncing_with_git_summary.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ set -e
 # create source folder
 mkdir -p /root/my_project
 echo 'file content' > /root/my_project/file.txt
+echo '.syncignore' > /root/my_project/.gitignore
 
 # create git repository
 cd /root/my_project
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ git config --global user.email "livesync@zauberzeug.com"
 git config --global user.name "Zauberzeug"
 git init
 git add file.txt
+git add .gitignore
 git commit -m 'initial commit'
 
 # livesync should create the target file